NASCAR Chicago Street Race won't return for 2026 — eyes 2027 comeback

Officials are hitting the brakes on the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, announcing Friday that the annual Fourth of July weekend event will not return for the 2026 season.

But the event could run through Grant Park again in 2027, as NASCAR and city officials try to hash out a new date and plans to streamline the buildout and breakdown of the course.

“Our goal is for the Chicago Street Race to return in 2027 with an event that further enhances the experience for residents and visitors alike, as we work together towards a new potential date, shorter build schedule, and additional tourism draws,” Julie Giese, NASCAR Chicago Street Race president, said in a letter sent Friday to Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The announcement comes two weeks after the conclusion of a three-year run at Grant Park, which generated hundreds of millions of dollars but also caused headaches for residents trying to maneuver downtown road closures over a busy holiday weekend.

“We appreciate NASCAR's dedication to the City of Chicago and their commitment to continuing their community engagement efforts, particularly their support of STEM education for our city's young people,” a spokesperson for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office said in a statement. “We look forward to resuming discussions around a potential return of the NASCAR Chicago Street Race in 2027.”

Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) said the decision was “primarily driven by the challenges of the calendar.” He said the city provided a list of tentative dates to NASCAR, of which “none of them really work” with its 2026 race season schedule.

But not returning next year doesn’t mean the race will be gone for good, Hopkins said.

“To the contrary, everything I have seen so far to date is they plan to use this year off to come back harder in 2027 with something that they can hopefully lead to something more permanent, a more permanent date that will be theirs for the next five to 10 years,” Hopkins said.

Giese noted in her letter to the mayor that the NASCAR Chicago Street Race team will continue to operate from its downtown office and won’t halt any of its charity work in the city next year.

“If this was a slow exit strategy, they wouldn't be doing that,” Hopkins said. “They would cut and run and they're definitely not. That's not to say it will be easy to resolve this calendar conflict. We're not canceling Lollapalooza ... we still have Taste of Chicago as an ongoing thing, we have all the music festivals."

Conversations about shifting the race’s schedule had already begun shortly after Shane van Gisbergen took the checkered flag at this year’s Grant Park 165 race July 6. NASCAR also had already sharply reduced its setup and take-down time prior to this year’s race, Giese has said.

Despite those “meaningful efforts to reduce disruptions for residents and businesses along the race route,” Ald. Bill Conway (34th) said he was disappointed to learn that officials couldn’t compromise on a different date — “especially given how NASCAR has provided Chicago the opportunity to shine on the world stage."

Contributing: Fran Spielman